Research Engineer

Who are we?

Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.

We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.

We are a global technology company co-headquartered in Toronto and San Francisco, with key offices in London, New York City, Montreal, Seoul, Germany and Paris. Join us!

Cohere Labs is the dedicated research arm of Cohere. Our mission is to push machine learning forward through open, collaborative research and hands-on experimentation. We work on frontier problems in NLP and AI while creating space for researchers and engineers from different backgrounds to contribute, learn, and grow.

We care about building things that are both thoughtful and useful, from new methods and datasets to tools that make research more accessible. Our team values curiosity, ownership, and practical impact over hype.

Why join Cohere Labs?

Cohere Labs brings together researchers and engineers to explore ambitious ideas and turn them into real systems. We focus on advancing machine learning while expanding access to applied research training and global collaboration.

We pursue this mission in two ways:

• Creating open, collaborative research spaces where engineers and researchers work side-by-side on ambitious ML problems.

• Expanding access to applied research training, helping early-career engineers grow into strong research contributors.

About the role

We’re looking for Research Engineers who enjoy getting their hands dirty: building experiments, debugging models, scaling training pipelines, and turning research ideas into working systems.
This is a highly practical role. You’ll work closely with scientists and other engineers to implement new methods, run large-scale experiments, and help shape the infrastructure that supports our research programs.

You don’t need to have everything figured out yet. We care more about curiosity, strong fundamentals, and a willingness to learn quickly in a fast-moving research environment.

You may be a fit if you:

• Have a strong engineering background in machine learning, NLP, or related areas (through a Master’s degree, industry experience, or equivalent hands-on work).

• Enjoy writing clean, reliable code and building systems that others can use and extend.

• Are comfortable experimenting, running ablations, analyzing results, and iterating quickly.

• Have experience with deep learning frameworks and model optimization techniques (PyTorch, distributed training, RLHF, finetuning, evaluation frameworks)

• Like collaborating closely with researchers and translating ideas into practical implementations.

• Are excited to grow your research instincts while staying grounded in engineering excellence.

At Cohere Labs, research engineers are not just support roles. They are core contributors who help define how ideas become reality. If you want to work on meaningful problems, learn fast, and help build tools that shape the future of AI, we’d love to hear from you.

• A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch.

• Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health.

• RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme.

• 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent.

• Annual enrichment benefits:

  Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit.

  Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching.

• 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!)

• Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite.

• Cohere is remote-friendly. We have offices in Toronto, San Francisco, New York City, London, Paris, Montreal, and more coming soon.

• For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events.

• For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city.

• Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly.

If any of the above doesn’t line up exactly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.

We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider.

Beware of Scams: Cohere will never ask for payment or third-party services (e.g., CV writing) as part of our hiring process. All legitimate roles are listed on the Cohere careers page and LinkedIn only, with all communications from Cohere employees coming from an @cohere.com or @cw.cohere email alias. If jobs are viewed on other sites then please verify these through our official careers page.